Prairie-Town Boy is an adaptation of Always the Young Strangers, a longer autobiography covering the same period of Sandburg's life. Always the Young Strangers, which the New York Times called the greatest autobiography ever written by an American, differs from Prairie-Town Boy in that it is written for adults and thus is more complicated, contains greater detail, and uses illustrations and explanations that might be inappropriate for young readers. It also contains an index, making it easier to locate facts about Sandburg's life.